Friday, January 30, 2009

I was overserved


Last month I got bombed. Not kind of drunk...full-on blacking out, throwing up on my husband ( who probably deserved it) partying like I haven't been out of the house in 15 years drunk. I spent the whole next day crawling between the toilet and my bed. The kids were incredibly sympathetic. Sympathy I did not deserve. They brought me breakfast in bed and wrote me get- well cards. Ironically, they treated me with much greater tenderness than they had a month before when I had surgery. The next day, I was still not feeling right but pulled myself together enough to get up and run some errands. One of the stores we had to go to was closed by the time we got there and in my second-day-hangover-shame-spiral, I said " oh man, I can't do anything right". Maddie, my optimistic child answered from the backseat " That's not true, mom! You sure know how to get drunk!" 

Friday, January 23, 2009

When they say you inhale your food, they don't usually mean it literally


It's been a hard week. Oskar has been really congested for the last six months and I have been to the allergist and the pediatrician and the pulmonologist and just haven't been able to figure out what is going on. On Wednesday he had a swallow study, which is a test where they have you drink barium and then x-ray as it goes down and it turns out that Oskar is aspirating fluid, which means that it is going into his lungs instead of his throat. They are having me thicken his fluids. It looks like he is drinking jello, but I am just devastated because I'm not sure what it all means. I feel like this is a new problem, and I'm scared. I feel like he is getting stronger in every other way, so I don't know why all of a sudden his swallowing reflex would deteriorate. I know life isn't always fair, and I try to believe that the Universe has a plan, but somedays it's sure hard to fathom what it is and why it has to be so hard. 

Jonas Brothers, Smonas Brothers




Some of you may know that Max is in this thing called School of Rock. It's music lessons and at the end of 4 months they do a concert. This semester the theme was hair metal of the 80's and Max did his first lead vocals. It was Awesome! Max played keys on "Final Countdown" and a few other songs, played guitar on " I hate everything about you" and sang lead vocals on "Gypsy Road" and " On with the Show". Now, this isn't really my kind of music. Some of my friends may be familiar with these songs (Nadine), but its a little back parking lot for me personally. Unfortunately, I don't think they will do a concert of Joe Jackson, Madness, English Beat and Jackson 5 songs. The next concert will be the Doors, I think sometime in late April or May. You should come! 

Monday, January 19, 2009

Mother warriors

Okay, as far as being a performer and a comedian, I really dislike Jenny McCarthy, but as a mother and an advocate for Children, I have to admire her. This is from her book and I am putting it up on my wall. 

A mother warrior is a mother who hears there is no hope for her child and, instead of retreating and mourning, breaks down walls, weaves her way through obstacles, follows her intuition even when people tell her she is crazy. She is a mother who believes in hope. A mother who believes in miracles and is able to carry on with strength and determination, even when her partner doubts her and offers no support. A mother who never gives up when she keeps hitting dead ends. These are the women who will continue to open the door so future generations of children don't have to suffer. These are the mothers with hearts of gold and shields made of the strongest armor. 




Saturday, January 17, 2009

Oskie's First Day of School




Oskar started the transition program into school this Friday. It was an hour and a half and all his therapists and teachers from the school district were there. By all accounts it went quite well. When I came to pick him up he had three teachers with him. One reading to him, one positioning him and one observing. I'm worried he's not getting enough attention. 

Once again, I have to express my gratefulness to teachers at the Edina School district Special Ed program. They are fabulous and we are so lucky.